Are you flat-footed because of a physical injury or deformity like the guy in the DailyMail article, or are your feet simply weak and atrophied? There are tons of anecdotal stories out there of people dropping one or more shoe sizes after they got their feet strong again and the muscles pulled their arch back into shape.

I agree with Patrick that the only "scam" is the notion that you must have VFFs. I find any zero- or near zero-drop shoe with minimal cushion and a generous toe box to be fine (and more convenient to take on/off, and not attention-drawing).